


new version of us

by scorpiusmalfoys



Series: El's Harry Potter Canon Companion Extravaganza [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Birthday Party, First Kiss, M/M, discussions of gay attitudes in the Wizarding World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28216224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpiusmalfoys/pseuds/scorpiusmalfoys
Summary: It's Albus' 15th Birthday and Scorpius is allowed to come to the party this year.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Series: El's Harry Potter Canon Companion Extravaganza [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049015
Comments: 1
Kudos: 74





	new version of us

**Author's Note:**

> i have been working and chipping away at this for over a month, it was actually the first fic I started from this whole series and kind of inspired it. my updates will be a bit jumpy because it's end of semester 1 and that means assessments and i have poetry, a research project AND an illustration project to finish by january also thanks for the kudos on the previous fics it really makes me happy to get those little emails.  
> again constructive criticism is welcome and i love positive affirmation too much because i am mentally ill

“Fifteen,” his dad teased, “god, when I was fifteen…”

Albus groaned. He was still in his pyjamas as his mum ran about the house yelling about how they only had 2 hours before everyone got here, and that Lily was organising the sofa cushions all wrong.

“I don’t see why you can’t do this with magic?” James complained from the other room, sat on the floor and putting his Quidditch equipment away.

“Because then the TV won’t work for a week, James and I'm not missing _Vera_ because you lot can’t pick up a bloody cushion!” his Mum yelled. James probably grumbled something about ITV Player after that but obviously their Mum hadn’t heard it, or she would have gone ballistic. His dad was cooking the meal, Albus’ personal favourite, Steak and Kidney pie.

“Dad, everyone knows what happened when you were fifteen, we learn about it in school.”

Harry stopped and remembered that he was famous for five seconds and then went back to slicing the Maris Piper potatoes into chip shapes.

“Well, at least _this_ year you won’t cause as much trouble as I did,” his dad said. Albus blushed, since he was back from school, his entire family had made it their mission to remind him how much trouble he had gotten himself and Scorpius into.

“Albus! Don’t just stand around in your pyjamas either get dressed or help James in the conservatory,” his mum demanded, storming into the kitchen. Albus blanched, he gulped down the last of his coffee down and ran upstairs to get dressed. Cleaning the conservatory with James was hellish and they always got into fights which he wasn’t really in the mood to do. He got changed into his shirt and jeans quickly and fussed around with his hair for a minute until giving up after it wouldn’t lay flat. He hoped Scorpius wouldn’t mind that his house was a lot smaller than his, while it wasn’t small by any standard with its 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, it was still not Malfoy Manor.

“Albus! Why did you leave your cup on the side, put it in the dishwasher for goodness sake!” Ginny yelled. Albus groaned and jogged downstairs.

“Happy Birthday Albus!” Scorpius cried. He ran for a hug which Albus shamelessly accepted. Albus felt his heartbeat slightly faster and Scorpius’ long arms wrapped around him.

“Did you grow even more?” Albus asked suddenly, Scorpius was towering over him now.

“Unfortunately, yes, he can’t seem to stop growing, I have contemplated whether I should stop feeding him,” Draco Malfoy said dryly, staring at the two boys hugging, “Happy Birthday, Albus.”

“Oh, thanks, Draco,” Albus replied bashfully. 

“I’ll leave you two out here; your parents are inside, right?”

Albus nodded and Draco left with Scorpius’ overnight bag, leaving the two boys alone.

“Are the muggles coming to your party?” Scorpius asked excitedly.

“Only Dad’s cousin, his uncle and aunt are unofficially banned from our family gatherings ever since his aunt started a fist fight with my gran at Mum and Dad’s wedding.”

Scorpius laughed and Albus let his stare linger a little too long, taking in the stretch of Scorpius’ lips when he laughed and how his eyes crinkled up.

“Hello Scorpius,” James greeted coming out of the house. Scorpius raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Is he talking to me?”

Albus groaned, “go away, James.”

James had made it his personal mission to make Albus’ life a living hell by actually wanting to spend time with him, he suspected their mum had a word with him and told him to be more mindful of Albus in the future and James being James took this as ‘pay so much attention to Albus’ every move that you eventually become the most annoying person in his life’.

“What am I not allowed to greet my brother’s best friend?” James asked.

“No, you’re not, you’ve never done it before, why now?” Albus replied quickly. James grinned wolfishly.

“No need to get territorial,” he replied teasingly which just made Albus angrier.

“James! Stop terrorising your brother and come set the table!” Ginny yelled from inside. James sighed loudly and ran inside.

“I’m sorry for that,” Albus said. Scorpius shrugged.

“I have your present, I hope you don’t mind if I give it to you privately, it’s just pretty personal to us and you probably don’t want to open it in front of your family,” Scorpius produced a large carefully wrapped rectangle from the carrier bag he had with him. He handed it to Albus who thanked him quietly. Albus tore open the present to reveal a large photo album. He opened it and it was full of pictures of the two together. Even a few scrappy doodles that Scorpius had charmed to move around the pages. There were sweets stuck on certain pages and the last page was an image of the two candidly having a conversation, it had been taken for the article about the time travel incident, but it was a lovely photograph, Scorpius was animatedly talking about something. He stroked his hand over the picture, smiling at it.

“I love it, Scorpius,” Albus smiled. Scorpius suddenly looked very bashful, “this is really one of the best presents I’ve ever been given.”

He looked at Scorpius. Took in the boy. Suddenly he wrapped Scorpius in a massive hug. Unspoken words hanging on his tongue, waiting to burst out but not right now, later.

Everyone was sitting in the back garden waiting for the meal to arrive. His gran had commandeered the kitchen from his dad who was now sat chatting to Uncle Ron.

“Your family is so big,” Scorpius whispered.

“I know, we can barely fit around this table.”

Scorpius looked around in awe. They always had to set up the tent in the garden with a huge table inside, luckily his Uncle Bill and Fleur were on holiday with their kids so that cleared up a few spots.

“It’s so cool,” Scorpius twinkled. The tent was filled with a raucous atmosphere, Albus’ extremely large family all talking about different things like politics and how great the deals at Aldi are.

“It’s your first time here, over time the political debates get really boring,” Albus replied, pointing to his Uncle Percy and Aunt Angelina getting into a heated debate over politics while his Aunt Hermione sat near them, trying to remain her composure.

“Hi, Scorpius,” Rose suddenly said, finally looking up from her phone.

“Hey, Rose,” Scorpius smiled. Albus’ eyes flitted to his face to sense any form of excitement but there was nothing; he felt kind of bad for how relieved that made him.

“How has your summer been?”

“Oh, not that exciting, I mostly just stayed at home,” Scorpius told her, “how was yours?”

Rose went on to detail her skiing holiday and how she had sprained her ankle but luckily it would be fully healed before Quidditch started. Albus rested his head in his hand, his face resting at a bored expression.

“Are they always like this?” Ron asked, pointing to Albus and Scorpius who had remained practically attached to the hip since the dinner ended.

“It’s hard getting them away from each other,” Harry answered, “especially after this year.”

“Are they together?” Ron asked casually. Harry blanched.

“What?”

“Just wondering if they’re dating, kinda seems like it to me,” Ron explained. Harry furrowed his brow slightly. He’s never even thought of their relationship like that, “shit, I always forget you were raised by Muggles, they’re all hung up on that stuff.”

“I… just never looked at their friendship like that, I thought it was like you and me,” Harry replied, trying not to let his mouth drop.

Ron snorted, “mate, I’m flattered but what _they_ have is more like Dean and Seamus.”

He took a casual sip of his beer, leaning back on the sofa.

“God, they do, don’t they?”

Draco Malfoy approached the duo.

“Potter, Weasley,” he greeted, giving a nod of the head when he spoke each name.

“Hey, Draco, did you know?” Harry asked.

“Know what?”

“That our sons are like… gay.”

Draco scoffed, “of course I knew that Potter, I actually _talk_ to my son.”

Harry scowled, “I talk to Albus; I just didn’t know that he was like... that.”

Draco Malfoy sat down in the dining chair opposite them, poised as always. He then slouched casually, still maintaining his regal air.

“Potter, I understand you were raised by Muggles, but a little respect wouldn’t go amiss, ask your wife about it, she probably knows, it’s glaringly obvious when you don’t live in a heteronormative society.”

“ _Heteronormative_ _society_ , Malfoy, you are such a _ponce_ , he means in the Wizarding World, it’s normal for gay people to be as open as straight people. Something to do with not conforming to Christianity, I dunno,” Ron told him, he took a swig of his beer again. Draco made a disgusted face.

“Pretending to enjoy beer again, Weasley?” he asked, changing the subject. Ron made a snappy comeback, but Harry was slightly too distracted with the revelation that his son might be in love with his best friend who is a _boy._ God how was he so oblivious, it was becoming increasingly apparent to him. The constant to-and-fro of owls, the way they behaved towards each other, the entire adventure where Scorpius followed Albus’ self-destructive tendencies into the near end of reality as they knew it.

Albus had never really spoken to his dad’s cousin, Dad, James and Lily often conversed with him but a lot of the time but Albus just never had anything to say to him. But Scorpius was desperate to pick a muggle’s brain that wasn’t his Great Uncle Rian’s.

“I really find muggles fascinating, Mum and I begged for a television in the manor but when Dad went out and got one it didn’t work because there was too much magic,” Scorpius rambled on, Albus had heard all of this in his first year, “I really don’t know why we haven’t developed a form of wizarding television, but the Wizarding World has always been rather luddite.”

Dudley looked at Albus in confusion, the birthday boy shrugged and gave an awkward smile. Albus looked around the garden hoping for an out.

“Hello Granger-Weasley-Potters!” someone said walking through the house, he then muttered after noticing the familiar blond man, “and Malfoy?”

“Neville!” Albus cried running to greet his godfather, Neville was carrying a large gift bag with a moving Griffin on it, he wrapped Albus in a brief bear hug and handed his godson the bag. Albus had to admit that he trusted Neville with a lot more information than he did his parents, mainly because Neville was always there at school and, he really didn’t want to tell his dad about all his puberty woes. In the bag was a tin of sweets, a stationary set and one of the fantasy books Albus had put on his wish list.

“Thanks Neville!” he smiled, putting the bag with the rest of his presents. Scorpius was still talking Dudley’s ear off and while Albus never minded it, he knew other people could get tired of it. He walked over to his friend and grabbed his wrist.

“Hey! I wasn’t done!” Scorpius frowned. Albus gave him a pointed look.

After everyone had cake, most people went home. Ron, Hermione and Draco had stayed to drink Firewhiskey by the chiminea but Albus had brought his best friend up into his room and they were setting up the air bed.

“This is so cool! I’ve never been to a sleepover before!” Scorpius said excitedly. Albus didn’t have the heart to tell him that they went to boarding school, so they had sleepovers most nights. Scorpius sat next to Albus on his bed, Albus’ breath hitched realising how close the two were sitting. He could feel Scorpius’ warm arm brush against his, leaving a nervous tingle.

“So, um, what do you want to do?” he asked, licking his lips. Scorpius shrugged.

“I dunno, what do people usually do at sleepovers?”

“Well Fred and James would usually tell scary stories that would freak us out and then Mum would yell at them because they’d make Lily and Hugo cry,” Albus told him.

“Maybe not that.”

Scorpius’ hand hovered over his. The room quickly became stuffy and Albus felt himself flush.

“Should I open a window, it’s kind of hot in here,” Albus laughed nervously. Scorpius shrugged again. He got up and opened his window, hoping the night air would cool the atmosphere. Albus fingers drummed against the bed when he had sat back down.

“This is awkward, isn’t it?”

Albus gulped, “M-maybe?”

He turned to look at Scorpius, who’s pale skin had flushed a bright pink, Scorpius placed his hand over Albus’ again but this time, Albus grabbed it and joined their fingers together.

“This is nice.”

“Is this something we do now?” Albus asked nervously.

“I’d like that,” Scorpius smiled softly. Albus’ eyes dragged down to his lips. They both leaned in at the same and then... their foreheads crashed together.

“Shit,” Scorpius said, holding his head slightly. Albus sighed after recoiling, his head slumped, and he looked at the coffee stain on his carpet, maybe this was a sign. Their hands had separated, and he missed the feeling of a clammy palm in his. Scorpius bit his lip. He grabbed Albus’ face and forced his bashful friend to look at him.

“I _like_ you, Albus,” Scorpius said determinedly. Albus gasped slightly but Scorpius continued, “and I know this conversation will probably end with someone getting upset but I _need_ to tell you, or this feeling will pass, and I’ll never tell you, then you’ll get married to some person and I’ll just be alone, wallowing in my unrequited feelings. And I know you’re thinking ‘What about Rose?’, and _I_ worried about that too when I first realised but I know now that I don’t like her that way anymore and I much prefer you in a romantic aspect, and once again it is perfectly fine if you don’t reciprocate but I just want this put it out in the open.”

“Scorpius,” Albus said, hushing the blond, “I like you too.”

He didn’t know who initiated but kissing Scorpius was like breathing brand new air. It was simple but passionate, neither one wanted things to become too overwhelming too quickly, but it was perfect. Like the last puzzle piece finally finding its home, revealing a perfect picture.

“ _This_ is the version of us I had in my head”, Scorpius smiled, after they both parted.

**Author's Note:**

> here are some trans resources:  
> https://www.gofundme.com/f/p6q5sm-homeless-black-trans-women-fund  
> https://transrightshumanrights.carrd.co/  
> https://pointofpride.org/  
> https://twitter.com/IMANISHANTE/status/1267453848853065728  
> https://twitter.com/aidenschmaiden/status/1280255812363972608
> 
> and here are my socials:  
> twitter: peabrainidiot  
> instagram: frygebraec  
> tumblr: jeanscotts


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